Favorite Race Recaps

I’m taking a few liberties with this week’s Friday Five theme hosted by Eat Pray Run DCMar on the Run and You Signed Up for What!–Favorite Race Memories. Once I’ve run a race and written a recap, I don’t really think back on my races unless I am planning a strategy for an upcoming race. Of course, I have some race memories that stand out, but what I am really excited about sharing are a few of my favorite race recaps from other running blogging friends. They inspired me, and I hope they will inspire you. 

Race Recaps

1. I Love That Bridge.  I will start with one of my favorite race memories. This is a recent one, from the 2013 Army Ten Miler. Before the race, my friend and I were managing our expectations and steeling ourselves for less-than-stellar finish times. We both felt under-trained and over-tired from work travel the week before–she even picked up my bib for me because I got back so late the day before. When the gun went off, we tried to stay together at the left edge of the crowd holding a fast-but-not-too-fast pace. When we saw our split time at mile 5, we couldn’t believe our pace. We managed to stay together for almost the whole race and we both set PRs. Looking back, the PR is nice, but what I really smile about is how much fun we had running side-by-side and encouraging each other. 

 2. Steena’s Ironman Recap. Last year Steena did her first full Ironman. (I can call it her “first” because she training for her second one now!) She swam 2.4 miles. She rode her bike 112 miles. Then, she ran a marathon (26.2 miles). And, she finished smiling. The Ironman website had live streaming of the finish line, and between tracking her bib number and following updates from her friends on Twitter, I was able to see her finish. It was incredibly exciting and I was so happy for her. When I first met Steena, she was training for her first marathon. But then a doctor told her she shouldn’t run marathons, so she took up swimming and biking and tried a few sprint triathlons. Eventually she found a better doctor and started running marathons again. Even if she hadn’t been through all that, her Ironman experience would have been fantastic, but with all that she had been through it was nothing short of awesome.  

3. Christine’s Broad Street Run Recap. I know Christine just wrote a great recap of her San Francisco Half, but it’s her 2013 Broad Street Run recap that still brings tears to my eyes–and then makes me smile with the pictures of her boys cheering her on! I remember my relief that she was able to finish the race without her knee stopping her, since in many ways this was a comeback race after a long recovery. Since I’ve had my share of injuries and comebacks, I understand the joy of finishing a race without being in pain! 

4. Tornado’s 5k Recap. Earlier this year Carla’s daughter ran her first 5k and wrote her first race recap. There’s no way I can do justice to this one–you will have to read it for yourself. 🙂 

5. The 30th GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler. Since it is Friday, I will finish this list with a picture that captures the simple joys of a post-race beer–especially when it’s a Monumental IPA from Port City Brewery. I remember how happy I was with my finish time, and how delicious that beer tasted! 

2014 GW Parkway Classic Beer Garden

[Tweet “Sharing favorite race memories and recaps from my friends! #runchat”]

Local readers–don’t miss my RevolveDC ride package giveaway coming next week!

What are some of your favorite race memories?

This entry was posted in Fitness and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

16 Responses to Favorite Race Recaps

  1. Steena says:

    🙂 🙂 🙂 Your recap of my journey made my day! Thanks for sharing! And thanks for sharing the other recaps for my reading pleasure!

  2. I like how your wrote about your friends accomplishments! I wrote about my fave memories with friends today too. Happy Friday!

  3. Your recap of my race made my day too! Thank you so much for including me here. That was such a fun day. It makes me smile thinking about that! Can’t wait to read the other recaps!

  4. I think it’s great you chose to highlight some of your friends’ recaps!

  5. I love race recaps. And I love your take on the races of others. Definitely inspiring. Happy Friday!

  6. I love how some of your favorite memories include being a spectator and watching your friends achievements. One of my favorite memories is watching my sister run down main street at her first princess half marathon. I wasn’t running it but up till that time that was probably one of the most exhilarating things i’ve experienced!

  7. I loved the Tornado’s recap too.

  8. I love that you highlighted your friends’ achievements! One of my memories (that I didn’t include) was volunteering at races.

  9. This is SO great! What a great twist on the theme. Sweet of you to highlight others!

  10. I love you interpretation of this week’s Friday Five. I love reading race recaps, too.

    This year was the first in several years that my husband and I didn’t run the GW Parkway 10-Miler. We ran a local half marathon instead. Glad you had a great race!

  11. Thanks for finally talking about > Favorite Race Recaps – Got2Run4Me < Loved it!

  12. awesome! i love the spin you put on this post — thanks for introducing me to some bloggers i wasn’t as familiar with 🙂

  13. Jennifer says:

    I like your take on FF! Christine’s recap was great.

Comments are closed.